USA pavilion at Expo 2010
[3] The Fudan University research study,[3] posted October 14, 2010 on PRNewswire, found that the USA Pavilion met high visitor expectations and generated positive perceptions of Americans.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most senior US official to visit the pavilion, responded "It's fine," when asked to express an opinion on the structure and its programs.
[5] US Senator Richard Lugar, in a February 15, 2011 letter introducing a report on public diplomacy efforts in China, noted that the USA pavilion "drew criticism for its hastily organized presentations and lack of a cogent message.
[8] The same paper's Ezra Klein, however, summed up the pavilion's appeal to China visitors thusly: "We're bad at languages, in hock to corporations, and able to set up gardens when children shame us into doing so.
"[9] Reacting to US media focus on the pavilion's commercial sponsorship, National Public Radio (NPR, US) reported: "Some American visitors find it gauche, but the Chinese seem unperturbed by all the corporate messages."
[13] "The Garden" told the story of a 10-year-old girl who envisions turning a blighted vacant city lot in her neighborhood into a beautiful, urban pocket park.
These special effects combined with a non-verbal approach made the message universally understandable by all visitors, with no language barrier to interfere.
"[15] The show aspects of the USA Pavilion were conceived and produced by Bob Rogers (designer) and Tony Mitchell from a Burbank, California-based firm, BRC Imagination Arts,[16] which has produced attractions and content for 11 world's fair presentations, including the film for the Vancouver Expo, "Rainbow War", which was nominated for an Academy Award ("Oscar").
The Philadelphia Orchestra performed during the opening week of the Expo; Harry Connick Jr was featured at the pavilion's National Day celebration.
In addition to many Chinese officials, notable guests included Quincy Jones, Robert De Niro, Patrick Stewart, Roger Federer, Adrien Brody, Diane Von Furstenberg, Halle Berry, Harry Connick Jr, Indra Nooyi, JW Marriott, Jeffrey Sachs, Anna Sui, and Maya Lin.
Other guests included former US President Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Gary Locke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Richard Daley.
meter) United States Pavilion, constructed largely from glass and steel, was designed by Canadian architect Clive Grout.
It was widely reported in the press that American law prohibits or limits the spending of public money for participating in world's fairs.
[21] In his commentary on the internet blog, "Foreign Policy", Jacobson claimed that a 2006-2007 RFP process was aborted, and the US pavilion project was outsourced, in March 2008.
Clinton's personal intervention and her fund-raising network are widely credited with helping the U.S. avoid the embarrassment of being a no-show at the largest world expo ever.
